Dean Russell traced the property forward from the Love-Cole ownership. Following his purchase of the property, Cole acquired additional acreage and in 1821 sold 735 acres, including the parcel in question, to John Johnson (a.k.a. Johnston). Around 1836, Johnston conveyed it to William Johnston (a.k.a. Johnson). It passed on William's death to his wife and their eight children, and parcels of the property were exchanged within the family in the ensuing years. Finally, in the years 1872-79, Charles I. Preston purchased several parcels, including the home in 1879.

"A house this old cannot get by without a ghost story," Dean Russell writes, and she provides one: "Supposedly, William Johnston died in the upstairs left front bedroom of the house. People who have slept in the room maintain that Mr. Johnston occasionally visits at night, evidenced by a moving rocking chair and the sound of a male humming."